Prilissa was first surveyed in 233. The Agliande Company of Deneb read the report and, forecasting a key role for the world during the expansion into the Marches, organized a colonization effort. The first settlers arrived in the 260s.

All went well at first. The colony thrived and as the survey had indicated the world proved ideal for agriculture. A vaccine was found that protected the 0.6% of colonists allergic to being stung by local pests; in 293 the first Kian were domesticated and Holiday 300 was celebrated with the running of the inaugural Kian Challenge Cup. Soon the Prilissan operation was turning a profit, providing food to the surrounding worlds and especially Trin.

Trade and the population grew throughout the 4th century, but all was not well. Many of the grandchildren of the original workforce saw no reason to work for the company and set off on their own to carve out new areas of the planet for themselves. A distinct local culture had developed and workers brought in to boost production found it hard to fit in. The native life was also beginning to adapt to the imported biologies; pesticides were being used more heavily to keep up yields.

Raufu hault-Agliande took over the running of the company in 377. A shrewd businessman with an eye for the longer term, he could see how things were developing and resolved that his family would not suffer.

Following extensive discussion control of the port was handed over to the Scout Service's Civilian Starport Office in 398, on condition that they upgrade it to cope with the ever-increasing demand; construction of Prilissa Highport dates from this time.

Then in 433, when Prilissa was at the height of its productivity, hault-Agliande sold the operation to another firm for a large amount. Two years later it was sold again, this time to Gromore, LIC.

Gromore took a heavy-handed approach to the business. They tried cutting prices paid to the farmers and then, as the situation continued to worsen, sent in their own supervisors to organize things the "Gromore way". It didn't help. Production was falling, costs were rising and now the farmers were angry and upset. Transport workers staging sympathy stoppages were fired.

In 447 hault-Agliande published his controversial autobiography. In it he apologized to the Prilissans for his part in the events that had led to their current plight, lambasted the Gromore management and obliquely criticized the Imperium for its laissez-faire attitude to workers' rights. When the book reached Prilissa (despite Gromore's attempts to stop it) the planet was already a powder-keg; the situation exploded as the farmers took matters into their own hands. Stressed Gromore security teams over-reacted, opening fire on and killing unarmed protesters before being overrun.

The Prilissans quickly set up a revolutionary council, aware that they would need some body to represent them. The Imperium stepped in, declaring martial law, but after long negotiations it was Gromore who relinquished their claim on the world in an attempt to mitigate the public relations disaster. The Prilissans had self-government.

The council set up interim structures to keep things running while they deliberated on the best system for a new Prilissa. Following the events of the revolution one of the key debates was over firearms; one large faction wanted to arm everybody, another to ban them altogether. The disarmament supporters eventually won. All the new government structures were put into place during the 450s. Conscious that they needed to keep things running smoothly to prosper, the Prilissans kept most of the existing management structure (and many of the incumbent managers), adapting it to the different needs of government rather than replacing it, and adding a written constitution to protect themselves from future abuse. The revolutionary council officially handed over power in 461 on the 200th anniversary of the first landing.

Maintaining the structures and personnel was not sufficient to prevent a severe recession. Prilissa relied too heavily on higher-technology equipment provided by the company, particularly presticides, and although these were obtainable from nearby Trin they could only pay for them with bulk foodstuffs. Gromore had taken their ships with them when they left and free traders could only transport a fraction of what was required.

Help arrived from neighbouring Hammermium. The fledgling Hammermium Corporation, looking to expand its trade, took up the slack on the Prilissa-Trin run. The economy began to recover, the Prilissans started retooling to use more locally-sustainable technology. In 493 Hammermium began commissioning 400 Ton lighters (the largest spaceships the half-completed highport could build).

There followed a century of consolidation, during which the character of the agricultural community stabilised into a form recognisable to any inhabitant of the 1100s. The First and Second Frontier Wars were fought in other parts of the Marches, but the early 600s were still a rough time for the world as its major trading partner, Trin, was shocked into an attempt to improve its self-sufficiency, reducing demand for Prilissan produce. The pattern was to repeat for subsequent wars.

A long, predictable, stable period followed, interrupted briefly by a flurry of economic and political adjustments when the Xboat route came to Trin and Hammermium, but by 800 the mood of the region was changing. Prilissa took no part in the Psionic Rebellion of 818 but, like most worlds in the Veil, suffered because of it. Many farmers quit, joining the nomads already living in the outback. The 800s also saw the sudden growth of the survival tourist trade, as desperate (and desperately bored) Trinians sought excitement and meaning in their lives.

An economic recovery in the late 800s led to railway network improvements which reduced the time required to get produce to the downports from outlying farms, which in turn helped the economy. Despite the Third Frontier War, Prilissa was as prosperous (and populous) as it had ever been when it was surveyed as part of the Second Imperial Grand Survey. The Fourth and Fifth Frontier Wars, however, were more damaging; by 1120 more than 50,000 people had emigrated, and the population is still declining.

"A dull, backwoods world full of dull, backward people leading miserable lives beneath a dull orange sun"

— Alison Berghaus, Memoirs of a Traveller

Many travellers share Ms. Berghaus' opinion, but understandable though it is they who are quite wrong. Visitors arriving in-system are usually directed to the highport, a small facility for a Class IV showing every sign of having been left half-finished. If they lack a streamlined vessel to take them down they then have to wait up to half a day for space on a cargo shuttle to the relevant downport. If they land at Gelno Downport — the largest facility — they are subjected to a bumpy ride by wheeled bus to the arrivals block where they are kept waiting again while their papers are processed. The concourse is shabby and draughty, smelling vaguely of animals and insect repellent. Eventually they are sent through to the main concourse and can avail themselves of the facilities, limited though they are. Travellers who wish to leave the port then have to undergo a medical examination or fill out a waiver form; inoculations are given using old-fashioned hypodermic syringes.

The truth is that the Prilissans have little interest in casual visitors; bulk haulage carriers are received with far more warmth and their applications are always given priority. The locals only care about people coming to their world if it is financially important; on Prilissa that means trading in agricultural produce.

Non-canon: Prilissa is governed by a large bureaucracy (for its population) with two committees at the top whose members choose their successors from the pool of candidates passing the highest Civil Service examinations. The seat of government (and chairmanship of the committees) moves every few years between the major communities. The size of the executive body (the Prilissa Policy Committee) keeps change happening at a glacial pace; the constitution and the actions of the legislature (the Committee for Public Records) prevents reforms increasing executive power.

More visible to both visitors and residents than the impersonal, distant Committees, the Adjudicator families handle the judicial aspects of government. Each family is assigned a specific geographical region. Borders rarely change; the size of the family is flexible to match changes in population. If a region becomes too unwieldy it will (after long debate) be split, and the family will branch to control both new regions. Mergers seldom happen — perhaps once a century — and are the cause of much unrest.

An Adjudicator family really is a family, with its members trained from early childhood for their role. Those who do not like the life are free to leave, those with little talent stay on in supporting roles. When membership falls too low the family will "adopt" someone from one of the legal schools; marriage partners are usually from the same source or from other families.

Determination of guilt is according to strict rules, but the Adjudicators have great freedom in prescribing punishment.